Federation Training chief quits

Federation Training has announced that its Managing Director of 20 months, Jonathon Davis, will leave the institute on Thursday 15 February 2018, for family reasons. Davis’s wife became seriously ill last year and he took extended leave to care for her.

He said that his wife’s carehas become his priority:

The Managing Director’s role at Federation Training is a particularly demanding one, both physically in terms of the travel given its geographical coverage, and in context of our Victorian TAFE sector during a time of significant rebuilding.

After much reflection, I know the time is right to prioritise my wife’s recovery.

The chair of Federation Training’s board said that Davis has many achievements to his credit in his short time at the institute:

…the curriculum has been realigned to focus on job-ready outcomes, student enrolments are now growing and our management team and teaching staff are externally focused, collaborating with industry and our Gippsland community.

Grant Radford, currently acting CEO at Chisholm Institute, will take over as interm CEO on 19 March. Until then Virginia Simmons, formerly CEO of Kangan and Chisholm Institutes, among other roles, will fill the role.

An executive recruitment agency has been engaged to oversee the process of appointing a permanent Chief Executive Officer, “consistent with selecting the best possible candidate to lead us into the future”.

Federation Training was created through the amalgamation on 1 May 2014 of Advance TAFE and GippsTAFE.